Here’s the beginning of my latest post about religion, with a link to the rest of it. Below it you’ll find everything else, arranged in these categories: Faith, Inspiration, and Discipleship; Explaining the Mormons (Latter-day Saints); and Exploring Scripture. If you like something you read, please click the Like button below it. If you don’t, don’t.
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The Latest
“I triumph still, if Thou abide with Me” (a reflection)
One of the unsung joys of Christian worship — there may be a pun there, alas — is encountering verses of a beloved hymn which aren’t in the hymnal you happen to use. A double blessing is discovering (or later remembering) them in a time when they are immediately relevant to you, your loved ones, or the state of things around us generally. This week, I was struck by these lines from the well-beloved hymn on Henry Francis Lyte’s text, “Abide with Me”:
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Everything Else
Click or tap the heading of your choice to see articles in that category.
About Me
I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I won’t complain if you use the nickname Mormon. By my definition (not everyone’s) I’m a Christian. Whatever you call yourself, you’re welcome here. I write to explain and inspire, if I can; to discuss and explore — not to proselyte.
My writings are sometimes apologetic, in the sense of reasoned argument justifying or defending my faith by explaining it. But I make no apologies (in the conventional sense) for having faith, for having a faith, or for presuming to discuss and ponder.
A Bit More Chatter
“Faith without works is dead,” James said. I’ll buy that. Here are some other postulates:
- Faith without brain cells is mostly dead, too, but probably doesn’t know it.
- Yesterday’s faith is of little use today.
- Faith and action are not contradictory concepts.
- Thinking and believing are not mutually hostile activities. They are the most natural and necessary partners in the universe.
- Sometimes Latter-day Saints (Mormons) need to be translated, before what they do or say makes much sense to other people, even other believers. I do some of that here.
Favorite Links
- Given Breath-
Kimberly Joy Hall is a thoughtful Christian and a fine writer -- in other words, irresistible.
- Scriptures at ChurchOfJesusChrist.org-
Excellent online versions of the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. They're heavily footnoted and cross-referenced, and some good tools (Study Helps) are available too.
- BibleHub-
I use BibleHub mostly to see different translations of Bible passages -- it offers more than two dozen English translations -- but it also has commentaries, dictionaries, concordances, sermons, the Apocrypha, and more.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: I am in no way or degree an official spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its leaders. They don’t tell me what to write. They don’t tell me what not to write. I’ll take credit for any errors here. If you find any truth here and care to give proper credit, please aim it far, far above my pay grade, where it belongs.